Curated OER
Loc: For Teachers: From Slavery to Civil Rights: Male Slave in Chains
"Large, bold woodcut image of a supplicant male slave in chains appears on the 1837 broadside publication of John Greenleaf Whittier's antislavery poem, 'Our Countrymen in Chains.'"
Curated OER
Etc: Maps Etc: Freedom and Slavery in the Early United States, 1790
A map of the United States and territories east of the Mississippi River in 1790, showing the areas of freedom and slavery at the time, including the territory of the Northwest, free by the Ordinance of 1787.
Digital History
Digital History: Compensation for Slavery [Pdf]
Read the arguments for and against giving reparations to today's African Americans to atone for the slavery their ancestors endured in 18th and 19th century America. Also included are results from a poll conducted by the magazine, Black...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: William Seward, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
The National Humanities Center present a reading guide that links to a speech in the Senate by William Seward, one that expresses moral outrage over the compromises allowing the expansion of slavery.
Understanding Slavery Initiative
Understanding Slavery Initiative: Atlantic Crossing: Slave Forts Case Study
Find out about the disparity between the castle-like headquarters of slave forts and the deplorable conditions in which enslaved Africans lived while waiting to be transported by slave ship to the Americas.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: America in 1850: Henry Clay: Review of the Debate on the Compromise Bills
Henry Clay's speech in the Senate in support of the Compromise of 1850 and the importance of preserving the Union.
PBS
Pbs Who Made America? Eli Whitney
In popular mythology, Eli Whitney has been deemed the "father of American technology," for two innovations: the cotton gin, and the idea of using interchangeable parts.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Harriet B. Stowe, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
A fictional depiction of the turmoil over the existence of slavery-and its human impact.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: Colonial Life: Faith, Family, Work
Article illustrating colonial life in North America. The author discusses religion and religious movements, women and the colonial family, and work, including slavery, during the 17th and 18th Century. Photographs and links to primary...
Virginia History Series
Virginia History Series: Virginia Antebellum (1800 1860) [Pdf]
From 1800-1860, America went through rapid growth and development. View this slideshow to see pictures, charts, maps,primary source documents and a detailed timeline of Virginia during the Antebellum Era.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Triangular Trade
In this lesson, 5th graders learn about the many societal structures that developed in colonial days, including the conditions for self-government in America, the free-market economy, and the slavery system. Background information for...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: Ap Us History Study Guide, Period Five: 1844 1877
[Free Registration/Login Required] Advanced Placement U.S. History learning module on Civil War era America and the transformation of society, 1844-1877. Comprehensive study tools include videos, essays, primary source documents, and...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Stono's Rebellion
A brief retelling of the colonial slave uprising, known as Stono's, or the Stono, Rebellion.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Stono's Rebellion
A brief retelling of the colonial slave uprising, known as Stono's, or the Stono, Rebellion.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Jeffersonian America: A Second Revolution?
Read about the peaceful "revolution" that occurred in the election of 1800 when the party in power, the Federalists, was defeated in a democratic election by the Democratic-Republicans. See how this showed that the ideals of the new...
Hanover College
Hanover College: Slave Narrative of Olaudah Equiano Vol. 1
The complete text of a famous slave narrative from the late 18th century (1789), it tells the story on how Equiano is captured in Africa, transported to the Americas and his experiences as a slave. It provides rich details about the...
Other
Book Review: Becoming America:the Revolution Before 1776
A detailed review by James T. Kloppenberg, constructively criticizing the author's (Jon Butler) thesis that ties between colonial religion and politics are exaggerated.
PBS
Pbs American Masters: Scientific American: Following Muddy's Trail
This site has a lesson plan on Muddy Waters focused on the American Masters documentary about him. Parallels the Great Migration with the growth of the blues music movement in America. Click on Muddy's name to access a detailed biography...
Northern Illinois University
Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project: Teacher's Parlor
A collection of lesson plans centered around President Abraham Lincoln that helps students understand some important events in America's history. The purpose of the page is present some major themes in American history from mid...
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Colonies
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart describes and gives background on life in the original colonies. Regional differences between the colonies are discussed. Activities include graphic organizers, charts and reading passages.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Enslaved Peoples, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Two Spanish accounts of enslaved Indians in the Caribbean and enslaved Africans in Mexico and statements of the difficulty of maintaining slavery and the lurking threat of a slave revolt.
BBC
Bbc: Slave Island New York's Hidden History
A fascinating article that examines the discovery in 1991 of a large Negro burial ground in lower Manhatten. The African American cemetery was used during the 18th century. Archived.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Africans I, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Four accounts of the complex power relationships between slaves and slave holders within English colonies in Barbados, Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as documents about slave revolts and anti-slavery agitation.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Prosperity, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Four original source accounts, and four related maps, of successful English, French, and Spanish settlements in North America and the Caribbean that explain the qualities of these settlements and their reasons for permanence and prosperity.